Hands-on: Steelcase Walkstation treadmill desk

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One of the major pitfalls of spending the majority of your professional life at a computer is the sedentary nature of the work. For those forty-plus hours a week you are stuck at a desk hunched over a keyboard while your back and wrists deteriorate. Proper posture and a good chair can each make a big difference but studies are finding that they aren’t enough. It turns out that in order to be healthy people need to stand, and yes, even move around a bit.

This, of course, is the last thing companies want to hear. They want people to be healthy so as to maximum productivity while reducing time away from work and healthcare costs, but if that means you are going to be wandering around aimlessly, getting coffee ten blocks away, or playing Wii in the corner (if you work someplace on the cool side) it’s not exactly helping the bottom line. Steelcase, very much in tune with this thinking, has developed a product called the Walkstation. It’s a treadmill slapped under an adjustable desk. The purpose of which being that you can walk while on the computer, taking a conference call, or doing some light reading. They weren’t the first to come up with this idea, it’s actually something we’ve seen homebrew “treadmill desks” around for some time, but it looks like Steelcase is the first major manufacturer to hit the market with a product.

The Walkstation uses a specialized treadmill that is designed to work at low speeds (0.3-2 miles per hour) and operate as quietly as possible. Special adjustable desks are used so regardless of the users height you can use the workstation without difficultly. You can even add a monitor (or a few of them) to the setup as well as a mouse and keyboard so you can have your full desk available to you while walking.

Now that you have established the “what” let’s move on to the “why”. Of course it’s about workers staying healthy and productive–walking is great for that. Walking at a reasonable pace (I found 1.8 mph to be a sweet spot) allows you to get in a little exercise while getting work done. It’s not so much that you will be a sweaty mess after an hour, but you will easily be able to get through your email while walking. Ultimately what this means is that you get to burn a few calories, your back gets a welcome change from sitting, and after your work you are more alert and productive than before. Yes, high doses of caffeine accomplish a few of these things as well, but walking an hour or so a day should leave you feeling genuinely better rather than jittery and hyper for a few hours and then crashed and slumped over in your chair.

Setup in Steelcase's NYC showroom

At about $5000 per the Walkstation is not exactly the type of thing every person can expect to have. But Steelcase tells us that companies are outfitting these for workgroups, at ratios of about 1:10 or 1:15 and that people can fill out timecards to rent them for a set period during the day. Of course you can go extreme and use it for a lot more, but that won’t be practical for every company.

So why not just make one yourself? After all, we’ve seen it done before. After testing out the Walkstation it still seems like a viable project, but you have to keep in mind that normal treadmills are not designed for low-speed, high-torque situations, plus they are loud. The Walkstation is not silent, but it’s quiet enough to not be bothersome from across the room. Additionally the desktop is solid enough that your display doesn’t shake while you are using it, something that would be quite distracting.

The biggest hurdle to get over with the Walkstation will be your initial reaction. The average person, especially the more pragmatic amongst us, will immediately point out how preposterous the idea is–a desk with a built-in treadmill? Why not just hit the gym and cut down on the donuts like everyone else? While those suggestions wouldn’t necessarily hurt, they are not addressing the larger problem of inactivity at work. Steelcase is trying to design a holistic solution to the deterioration of your back’s health through a combination of better sitting, standing while working (another use for those adjustable height desks), and light activity. The activity won’t only be good for overall health, it helps maximize alertness and productivity.

{ad}What about the home worker or small office? Things get a bit tougher there as sales efforts for companies like Steelcase are generally aimed at larger companies, but it is possiblet to get one yourself. While a local reseller is a possibility, Steelcase’s online store works too. A fully outfitted Walkstation will set you back $5000, but the good news is that shipping is included. That much money is a lot of months at the gym and a lot of hours with a personal trainer, but if you are looking to walk while you work and maintain the health of your back it might be a small price to pay, especially considering the life of the Walkstation.

Whether you are sold on the idea of the Walkstation or not, it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Sitting down for ten hours a day, regardless of your chair or posture, is just not good for you and activities as simple as walking and even standing can make a big difference. Steelcase has studies to back up all of this, but your own experience will probably tell you that sometimes you just need to get away from your desk. If you can do this while still getting some work done, say an hour a day while you check your email, then it’s a win for both you and your employer.

The TrekDesk is slick if you have the room. I bought a treadmill about 2 years ago. It made a great coat rack out in the garage until I turned it into a reading station with an extra shelf I had laying around from an inexpensive bookcase. I just lay the board across the threadmill’s arms and bamm! Instant workstation. Now I can read all those magazines that used to stack up. It’s also wide enough for a portable DVD player or laptop. I can watch videos or go online (with wifi) and read the morning’s news. I don’t even need to remove the board when I fold the treadmill up.

Thanks for your inspiration and guidance. I added a desk to my treadmill and quickly dropped 10 pounds, as well as feeling more alert and active during the day. Here are my detailed instructions: http://tiny.cc/tread